Rahul Gandhi's 'Temple Run' in MP Today as Part of Congress's Soft-Hindutva Approach

Bhopal: As the assembly and general elections are drawing closer, the top leaders have reopened their travel diaries with a 'voter-friendly' itinerary. From embarking on pilgrimage to reaching out to minorities and Dalit, the political parties are leaving no stone unturned to woo their potential voters.

Among them is Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who recently seems to be pushing his party's 'soft-Hindutva' stand. After pilgrimage to Mansarovar and and his visit to Amethi as 'Shiv Bhakt', the Congress president is set to embark on a two-day visit to Madhya Pradesh on Thursday.

Gandhi's MP trip is a part of Congress's Sankalp Yatra, which is in its second leg. He would first visit Chitrakoot, situated on the MP-UP border, to seek blessings at Kamtanath temple, following which he will fly to Satna and address a mega rally before arriving in Rewa to visit rural areas of the district on Friday.

The Congress president's visit comes two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a mega show of strength of party workers in Bhopal.

The party leaders were busy in full-scale preparations for their president's visit. Chitrakoot holds special place in Congress scheme of things as the party had announced to undertake Ram-Van-Gaman-Path journey — the mythological route lord Ram undertook during his exile.

The journey was supposed to be launched on September 23 but was deferred due to unknown reasons. However, with the confirmation of Congress president's arrival in the state, MPCC president Kamal Nath has once again raked up the issue of Ram-Van-Gaman-Path (Ayodhya to Chitrakoot). "CM Shivraj has announced Rs 33 cr Ram-Van-Gaman-Path project but could only set aside Rs 1,000 for the same in three years. This exposes their faith in lord Ram," he said.

Congress has already announced to complete the project once it comes to power.

Meanwhile this would be Gandhi’s third visit to MP starting with Mandsaur where the Amethi MP had held a public meeting on the anniversary of police firing on farmers, in the month of June.

More than being an election campaign, Gandhi’s visit is now eagerly awaited in MP’s political circles as PM Modi, during his speech at Bhopal, had launched a blistering attack on Congress. Commenting on the persistent electoral losses of the Congress, PM Modi had attacked the opposition, party saying that despite having an army of veteran leaders, the party’s existence is hard to find even under a microscope.

Besides, as a part of his election campaign ahead of MP assembly polls, Gandhi is expected to visit Jabalpur, Indore and Ujjain next. "Rahul Gandhi is expected to visit Jabalpur on October 5, Indore and Ujjain on Oct 15 and 16," said a Congress leader in Bhopal.

Like it happened in Bhopal early this month, Gandhi would hold a puja (of river Narmada) before kicking off his roadshow in Jabalpur. On September 17, Gandhi had set out on a roadshow in Bhopal after seeking blessings of 11 Hindu priests. Posters calling Gandhi a Shiv-bhakt had also sprung up on city roads.

Meanwhile, Deepak Babaria, the AICC general secretary in charge of MPCC, on Wednesday visited Jabalpur and held discussions with the partymen regarding party chief's proposed visit.